L.B. Foster Company has announced two leadership appointments in its Rail Technologies area, effective immediately.

James F. Tanner has been named general manager, Rail Technologies, reporting to Kostas Papazoglou, vice president, Rail Technologies. Tanner, who joined L.B. Foster in 2004 as the sales and marketing manager for the company’s Precise Structural Products business, will be located at the company’s corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pa. A graduate of Union College with a civil engineering degree, Tanner first came to the company after holding positions of increasing responsibility with other companies in the steel fabrication industry.

Robert Docherty joins the company as head of business development, Rail Technologies UK Ltd. He will report to Peter Jones, general manager, Rail Technologies UK Ltd., and be based at the company’s Sheffield, U.K., location. A graduate of Bell College with an HNC in metallurgy, Docherty worked in the steel industry in both France and the United Kingdom, before joining UK Trade & Investment as a rail specialist in 2006.